THEY always say that you remember the first time you do anything. Celtic’s first Scottish League Cup win is a curiously little known occasion, partly because it was a dreich Wednesday afternoon and partly because it was not the main topic of conversation, which was whether Great Britain was going to be involved in a World War – a frightening prospect in the mid 1950s now that everyone knew all about nuclear and atomic bombs.
Basically Britain was spoiling for a fight with Nasser’s Egypt, and the first League Cup final game between Celtic and Partick Thistle was played out against all sorts of tub-thumping rhetoric. That turned out to be more interesting than the League Cup final which was a boring 0-0 draw which Celtic could well have lost, for Thistle were the better side.
By the time that the replay kicked off at 2.15 pm on Hallowe’en, Wednesday 31 October, the international situation had deteriorated badly. Israel had attacked Egypt, and it was only a matter of time before Britain got involved. Indeed The Evening Times carried the headline that the British and French had invaded Egypt at dawn with the avowed intention of protecting the Suez Canal.
Reservists had been called up, and serious action was expected soon, as well as the rationing of petrol. The crowd was a paltry 31,156 leaving loads of elbow room in the vast bowl of Hampden, and this time they did at least see a better game, particularly from the chastened Celtic who had seen the light and brought back Neil Mochan.
All the action happened in the first quarter of an hour of the second half, by which time the crowd had swollen considerably with the influx of schoolboys, and it was Celtic, inspired by Charlie Tully, who won the day.
Billy McPhail scored twice and Bobby Collins once and there was no way back for Thistle from this 0-3 setback. Celtic retained command, and captain Bobby Evans lifted the League Cup half an hour later, as the crowd departed to an uncertain future.
Fortunately, the Egyptian adventure didn’t come to much other than the resignation of the Prime Minister and a global humiliation for Great Britain! The Hungarian situation however got a lot worse, as the world saw just what sort of a country the Soviet Union was.
Thus Celtic joined the ranks of the winners of the Scottish League Cup. For a trophy that they had striven to win for so long without success, the actual way they won it was a huge anti-climax in front if a small crowd on a dull Wednesday afternoon, but their small support celebrated in style. Next year, they would win it again, but the circumstances would be remarkably different. Indeed it would be hard to imagine a bigger contrast.
David Potter
Last night on The Celtic Star David Potter took us through the history of Celtic v Rangers League Cup Finals, the first of which he mentions in the paragraph above. Before that though we gave the an explanation as to why the League Cup final on Sunday 8 December is the THE FIRST TIME that these two clubs, Celtic and the Rangers will face each other in a major cup final. You can read that below…
First Ever Cup Final between Glasgow clubs confirmed, Celtic 4 short of a Century
So having got that out of the way David Potter then outlined the history of Celtic v Rangers in League Cup Finals and as always it is a great read. You can catch up below…
Betfred Cup Final, Celtic versus ‘for simplicity’s sake, I will call them Rangers,’ David Potter
Meanwhile Niall J actually took the time to watch the Hearts v the Rangers semi-final yesterday, so that he could write up a report on our Cup Final opponents, and he was left underwhelmed by the quality of the team we’ll be facing on 8 December. Again you can read his report below…
So there it is, on Sunday 8 December, Celtic will play the Rangers in the League Cup Final. It’t true what they say, there’s always a first time for everything.
ALSO ON THE CELTIC STAR…
The Battle of Montevideo: Tommy Gemmell, ‘A South American Liberty’